Saturday Morning - two phone lines are discovered to be dead (fixed-cel and microwave)Using my cellular I call 119 to report the fault.I am told it will be reported today and fixed "sometime next week".

For one week I have had to make most calls twice - first time it rings through but nobody can hear. Then I call again and get through. This is both frustrating and expensive (pay for two, get one ---). I have been told repeatedly by locals and by callers from abroad that it is very difficult to get through to our phones. We pay enough for them - Ashcroft makes ga-zillions on the company - as consumers it is time we made demands for better.

Phones are essential for human safety and for normal business ---they need to work 24-7.

FYI - after a bit of fussing around with the electronics, I managed to get the fixed-cel up and running again - so if you have the samne problem maybe this will help --- unplug hte phone jack and power source, let the box rest a minute and then plug back in. The look on front of box and you will find what looks like a tiny little light - you should be able to push it in and have it pop back out. that is a reset button. if you push in, let it pop out and then see a light come on, you will likely find that the phone works again.

So back to the main gripe - we cannot have phone-service be a 5-day a week utility.

I am not an expert on these phones, the fixed cell variety, but I have had very good experience with a customer at mile 14. They use the SMART product instead of BTL and have 4-5 phones working fine. They have the same hardware profile as the BTL fixed cell phones (antenna, receiver, standard phone), but work on the CDMA frequency rather than GSM and therefor work reliably at much great distances - just like SMART cell phones work better as you get travel further north.

Diane, You are not alone. I have heard from at least one other BTL fixed cell customer that services was unbearable in the last couple of weeks.

My wife is in Belgium at the moment, and she cannot call to our fixed cell number; the message is: "the number you have dialed is not in use". We daily get emails from our guests asking whether we still exist. It has cost us quite some business recently, although this problem already exists for years. Before though BTL was able to do something about it - although the fix usually only worked for a few weeks.

We have asked for another microwave-line from BTL (like our fax line - although that goes out about 3 times a week - and preferably on Friday evenings - that one can be reached from abroad), but they do not have the hardware. The solution Duran Harban from the yellow pages (BTL subdivision) had in mind was to list my cell number(!). He wants us to run a resort of a cell phone, and we don't even have coverage in the office!!

We have tested Smart, and yes, my wife is able to call it from Belgium, although the reception here is poorl we are working on that and will probably install a Smart antenna here on the property soon. We are also looking for more alternative solutions.

Oh, and yellow pages refused to list my (working) Smart number in my ads. When I wanted to cancel my ads, the answer was that only when I canceled my phone lines with BTL, the ads could also be canceled.

Talk about arrogance! Guess they'll be adding that ad money to my phone bills next year, and there will be nothing we can do about it, but pay.

My fixed cell works fine when calling out. Have received e-mails from people saying that they cannot call me.BTL has been treating me OK lately, but it is still (as far as I know) the most worthless and expensive phone company in the world. Nothing to do with the staff that I have been dealing with. All very nice people. The owners suck.

I think we need to identify the practical problem (hardware, etc,.); and take this info to our Minister of Tourism, explaining the concrete alternative we prefer.

The GOB licenses this company to do business here - if we address this issue with intelligent pressure, I think we can make something happen. Just by comparing experiences here on the board I now know it's not just my phone - it is the wireless system. From cause to effect to solution.

I spoke with technicians at BTL yesterday, exlplaining the situation and informing them it was not just my phone, but that it was a situation affecting many users north of the land-line area. I was told that the system itself was at fault and that technicians spent much of the day yesterday working on both microwave and fixed-cellular systems. They said the service should be ok now, but to monitor and report back. So ------ if ya'll with prior problems will keep in touch with me about how the phones work this week, I'll report in to the service guys and keep on them ......... sound ok?